A credit card is about the size of a business card. Information such as credit card and cardholder's name, card number, issue date, effective date, each payment limit, card issuer and so on are printed on the card surface. On the back, there is the cardholder's reserved signature, magnetic stripe and brief statement of the card issuer.
Credit cards originated in America. As early as 19 15, some hotels and department stores in the United States began to issue credit cards in order to promote their products and expand their business. In the 1960s, credit cards were widely used, and began to spread in Britain, Canada, Japan and Western European countries, and the scope of use was also broadened, from buying houses and land, traveling and shopping, to public telephones and buses. Since Bank of China introduced credit card as a new payment method to China in 198 1, other banks have followed suit.
The use process of the credit card is as follows:
The cardholder purchases or consumes with the card and signs the shopping list.
Merchants provide goods or services to cardholders.
The merchant submits the purchase order to the card issuer.
The card issuer pays the merchant.
The issuing bank sends a payment notice to the cardholder.
The cardholder returns the loan to the card issuer.
Using credit card as a payment method is efficient and convenient, which can reduce cash circulation, simplify collection procedures, and can also be used to deposit and withdraw cash, which is very flexible and convenient. However, credit cards also have some disadvantages:
The transaction cost is high.
Credit cards have a certain period of validity, and they will be invalid after expiration.
It may be lost, bringing risks and troubles to cardholders.
Bills and credit cards are closed payments. Generally speaking, open payment is more convenient, because the payment instrument does not need to be reconfirmed by the issuer; However, closed payment is obviously not as good as open payment in this respect, and re-collection increases the cost as a payment tool itself, which is also the reason why bills use endorsement transfer and other means to increase liquidity. However, due to the limitation of technical conditions, the traditional open payment has great risks and inconvenience. It is this kind of trade-off that makes bills, credit cards and other payment methods frequently used in large-value transactions before the emergence of electronic payment.